MintDeck

MintDeck is an iOS flashcard app with FSRS spaced repetition, Anki and CSV import, audio and quiz modes, and free studying. Optional pay-as-you-go credits unlock AI deck generation from topics, PDFs, photos and websites.

MintDeck is a flashcard app for iPhone that positions itself as a free alternative to Anki. The core study experience costs nothing: unlimited decks and cards, spaced repetition scheduled by the FSRS algorithm, quizzes built from any deck, an audio mode, image occlusion and cloze cards, progress analytics, a study calendar with streaks, and CloudKit sync across devices. The developer states that these features are free because they run on the device, so there is no server bill behind them. Cards can be made in three ways. Learners can type them by hand, import existing material (Anki .apkg files with scheduling data and media, CSV files with field mapping, or scanned notes), or generate whole decks with AI from a PDF, a photo, a website, pasted text or a plain topic. Only the AI layer uses credits, which are sold as a one-off purchase with no subscription and no expiry. Credits also cover image generation, mnemonic suggestions and additional premium text-to-speech voices. A browser-based generator is available for trying deck creation before installing the app, and the resulting cards can be imported afterwards. In practice the app suits students preparing for exams and people learning languages, as the sample decks for Japanese vocabulary, chemistry, anatomy and economics suggest. Review sessions can be flipped cards, a hands-free listening mode with adjustable speed and background playback, or a quiz with multiple choice, true/false and typed answers that adapts to performance. Export back to .apkg keeps scheduling and media portable, which reduces lock-in for anyone moving between apps. Among alternatives, MintDeck sits between Anki, which is powerful but has a dated interface, and Quizlet, which the site criticizes for moving its Learn mode and practice tests behind a paywall. Its main trade-off is platform reach: the product is described as an iOS app, so users on other systems have fewer options beyond the web generator.